


A Winter's Tale: Twenty Random Facts About Mr. Granger

by MiraMira



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 20 Random Facts, Angst, Character Study, F/M, Family Drama, Mental Illness, Non-Graphic Sex, One Shot, POV Minor Character, Rare Pairing, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-02
Updated: 2011-01-02
Packaged: 2017-10-14 08:54:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/147548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiraMira/pseuds/MiraMira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His name is Robert. Robert Timothy Granger. Dr. Granger to patients and colleagues, Rob to his friends, Robbie to those few remaining family members who are old enough to recall him as a boy, and Bertie in private with his wife – though many years have passed since he last heard that particular nickname.</p><p>This is the story of why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Winter's Tale: Twenty Random Facts About Mr. Granger

**Author's Note:**

> Although this story was written at the same time as my previous "Twenty Things" lists, I've held back on archiving it here: not because of its implicit criticism of Hermione's actions in Deathly Hallows (though if you're hoping for a purely fluffy take on Granger family relations, I suggest looking elsewhere), but because I completed it without any knowledge of the British dental system. Having since done enough research to convince myself that the relevant plot points are not completely ludicrous, I post it with full apologies for any remaining inaccuracies.

1\. His name is Robert. Robert Timothy Granger. Dr. Granger to patients and colleagues, Rob to his friends, Robbie to those few remaining family members who are old enough to recall him as a boy, and Bertie in private with his wife – though many years have passed since he last heard that particular nickname.

2\. Rob comes from a long line of dentists: his father ran Granger Dental Services, which he had inherited from his father, and so on back to the days when barbers pulled teeth (or so his father claimed). His mother’s family was more colorful; to this day, he isn’t sure what sort of “insurance” jolly old Grandfather Puckle sold, except that no one was willing to discuss it in front of him.

3\. Initially, Rob had no desire to follow in the family trade; when he first started thinking about university, he’d hoped to be an English professor. But instead of the flattered, supportive reaction he’d expected when he voiced this ambition to his lower second form teacher, he received a harrowing lecture on rising costs of living, the dearth of teaching posts, and the ingratitude of students, and resolved to choose something more practical.

4\. He met Jane during his first year at university. She was the bushy-haired brunette who sat in the front row and always knew all the answers to everything, and he hated her for it.

5\. It turned out she could also drink their chemistry professor under the table, loved Shakespeare almost as much as Pink Floyd, was unfailingly generous with her study notes, and all that bushy brown hair didn’t look half bad when she plaited it. Or splayed out on the pillow beside him in the morning, for that matter.

6\. They wanted to hold the wedding in what was now Granger and Granger Dental Services (a wedding gift from Rob’s father), but Jane’s family insisted on a church ceremony. To this day, he can’t remember a thing about the processional or reciting the vows or even the kiss: just the bride’s glowing smile and the scent of the roses in her bouquet.

7\. There was never any question that their firstborn would be named for one of their favorite playwright’s creations, but there was a great deal of debate over which one in the event that “Hal” would not suit. Jane objected to Juliet and Ophelia on general principle, and Rob didn’t like the sound of Viola or Portia. Finally, they wrote the remaining candidates on slips of paper, threw them into a hat, and asked the hygienist to pick one. Hermione has never been told about this part of the selection process.

8\. They hadn’t intended for Hermione to be an only child, but between a difficult first pregnancy and a pair of miscarriages and trying to keep the practice afloat and just plain poor timing, it never panned out. Besides, Hermione turned out to be so well-behaved and good at keeping herself entertained that Rob almost felt guilty asking for additional blessings. He does sometimes wonder whether any siblings would have inherited her particular “talents,” though.

9\. He treated Harry Potter once, though of course he didn’t recognize the significance of this until much later. Harry himself was seven years old, and an unremarkable patient: scared, but polite. The cousin, on the other hand, was a terror, and the aunt and uncle even worse. They attempted to pay with an expired “two for one” coupon from a different dental office, and flew into an indignant rage when Rob gently suggested that their son might benefit from fewer sweets and a retainer. He never did manage to collect the entirety of their bill.

10\. Before the Hogwarts letter, Rob and Jane had been giving serious consideration to homeschooling Hermione. Her teachers should have been comfortable dealing with gifted children, but Hermione’s precociousness seemed to unnerve them. It wasn’t until Rob saw his daughter raptly nodding along with Professor McGonagall’s explanation of ways in which accidental magic often manifested itself that he understood the true source of the problem.

11\. In retrospect, he wishes he had listened to Jane and asked more questions about the mysterious illnesses that befell Hermione during her second year of school. He was perfectly willing to accept McGonagall’s cheerful reassurances that all was under control, not to worry; she maintained that there was no reason to send a letter at all unless there was something worth worrying about. Then term ended and Hermione came home hearty and happy (though strangely quiet about her classes), and the argument fell by the wayside.

12\. He also wishes he had made more of an effort to get to know Hermione’s friends, but one question-and-answer session with the Weasleys was exhausting enough, and it didn’t seem fair to extend an invitation just to Potter.

13\. Officially, he began to share Jane’s doubts about Hogwarts when Hermione abruptly decided not to come skiing. In reality, the teeth-straightening incident was when he felt the first pangs of fear that his daughter’s magic was taking her down paths that might be better left unexplored.

14\. Rob is mostly retired now. Every so often when money is tight, he calls up a former colleague with a nearby practice who lets him take on a patient or two. Said colleague has offered to hire him full time, but he knows he can’t afford to be away from home too often or for too long.

15\. If he tries to remember the Lost Year – which he avoids doing as much as possible – he has to be very careful to imagine it as a travel film on Australia: something remote from his own experiences. The moment he starts thinking of it as things that he (or is it Wilkins?) did, he begins shaking and has to lie down until his head clears. He monitors the time this recovery takes very carefully. One day, he fears, the delay will begin to lengthen until it disappears altogether, and then who will take care of Jane?

16\. Everything was fine the first few months or so when they returned, if the definition of “fine” could be stretched to include rebuilding the lives they’d left behind and coming to terms with the aftermath of a war they’d had no idea existed. Then Jane began to make odd remarks in passing, as though she thought they were still in Australia. They laughed these incidents off at first, but her disorientation grew more frequent and severe. Now, she barely retains awareness of where and who she is for more than an hour at a time. Her doctor calls it “early onset dementia.” Rob knows better.

17\. The last time he and Hermione spoke – or rather, argued – was five years ago, right after the diagnosis. She insisted on taking her mother to a magical hospital and insinuated that any other course of action would be negligent; he blasted her for daring to preach the superiority of magic to him when her tampering had caused this mess. She insisted she was only trying to rule out certain possibilities; he pointed out that meant there _was_ a possibility. Then she asked if he would have preferred to die, and he replied that she hadn’t cared about their opinion then, so why pretend now?

She left with angry tears in her eyes, but unwilling to concede that noble intentions did not equal absolution. He hasn’t contacted her since.

18\. He did agree to talk to Ron Weasley, though, when the boy wrote him to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Although he did his best to focus on Ron’s declarations of love, they only stirred up now-painful memories. By the time his would-be son-in-law got around to describing the toll the separation had taken on Hermione, he was in no mood to be moved. “You’re her family now,” was all he would say in response, and that was where they left matters.

19\. In spite of himself, he has also developed a friendship with Andromeda Tonks, who turned up on his doorstep one day and refused to budge until he invited her in for tea. (He was reluctant to call the police, for fear she’d vanish before they got there.) She shares many of his feelings on the war and the wizarding world’s treatment of Muggles, and understands the burdens of caretaking; her grandson Teddy is a frequent visitor as well. How she found out about his situation, he doesn’t know, and prefers not to ask.

20\. On the table in front of him lies a birth announcement concerning the arrival of one Miss Rose Perdita Weasley. He has absorbed its contents and is scanning the toys he bought to keep Teddy entertained, wondering if any of them might be appropriate for an infant.

Jane, he thinks, will approve of the name when he is able to tell her. And Hermione, at last, will have to face that there are challenges in this world that cannot be solved by magic.

She’s going to need his help.


End file.
